1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Graphic User Interfaces and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for displaying lists on a display of a mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional display of a list according to the related art.
As illustrated, with reference to the list including items A-J and referred-to by reference label 110 of FIG. 1, list items D to J are displayed in a visible area 130, which items A-C are in an area that is not displayed. Because of the limited size of the display screen only a select number of items within the list are within the viewing area and displayed to the user.
To view one of the items A-C not in the visible area 130, the user has to scroll through the list so that the desired item is located in the visible area 130. To traverse the entire list, the user may have to repeatedly scroll through the list so that a desired item is located in the visible area 130. In this case, when a touch screen is considered, the user taps a location in the viewable area (as indicated by the hashed circle in list 110) and draws the tapped (touched) area downward (as indicated by the directional arrow).
The result of the scrolling, as shown in list 120, draws the unseen items A-C into the visible area, while items H-J are removed from the visible area 130.
As described above, when the user of a mobile terminal views a page or list that does not fit within in the visible area 130, the existing display method may fail to provide to the user information regarding information what is outside the visible area 130. When information regarding items of a list present outside the visible area 130 is not provided, it is difficult for the user to obtain holistic information on all the list items.